One Big Happy Family is a slow-moving thriller. A father has died bringing his children back together. They are stuck in the family hotel due to a hurricane. Secrets come out, threats are made, and no one is to be trusted.

I usually a follow the path the author sends me on type of reader but with this book I figured out what was going on pretty quickly. There were many clues given early in the book that led me down the right path. I like having that ah-ha moment but feel like this one could have had a bigger ah-ha.

One Big Happy Family is a book that I enjoyed reading but it will not be a book that I remember in the long run. The writing was easy to read and follow. The characters were predictable and not very exciting.

I was blessed to have read an early copy of The Block Party which was a wonderful story.
But after devouring One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day this is my favorite so far!
Every time I tried to stop reading! I was pulled in for more!
The characters were so well developed and interesting. The plot was twisty and turny and did not quit. I was riveted until the very end.
Atmospheric, gripping, and unpredictable.
In other words, the perfect ingredients for a satisfying result.
Another riveting summer suspense from Jamie Day.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

The Precipice is a family-owned hotel in Maine that is well known, but when the current owner does and the reading of his will takes place trouble ensues. His three daughters all expect a part of the estate, but still playing games after he’s gone their father’s will is anything but expected. Each sister wants what is theirs and Charley, the maid who is living at the hotel, gets caught in the middle of it. While a hurricane passes through and the squabbles continue secrets and lies will come out that will change the course of everything.

The synopsis of this book is so intriguing and I am always game for a few good lies and drama. This book was full of it all, but something just didn’t connect for me. I enjoyed the storyline and the locked room mystery feel of this book. The hurricane also added a nice touch of impeding doom to everything. I think my biggest problem was I didn’t connect with a single character in the book, even Charley, and I feel like there was a lot of over the top drama that was unnecessary at times. There is usually at least one character I enjoy and root for in books like these but that wasn’t the case this time. Overall it was an enjoyable and fast paced read that is good if you are looking for a nice mystery with lots of family drama. There were just a few things I didn’t connect with in the end.

Thank you to St.Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC!

After loving The Block Party last summer, I was so excited for another novel by Jamie Day. One Big Happy Family was so different from Day’s previous novel in the best way, both are great, but I was expecting more rich people/domestic drama in suburbia and was pleasantly surprised to discover this was a locked-setting whodunnit.

This novel was instantly gripping with a compelling FMC for the reader to relate to. With elements reminiscent of Daisy Darker and Agatha Christie, this kept me engaged and still had plenty of familial drama like Day’s previous novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, dripping with intrigue, betrayal, and threats both internal and external to the setting - I highly recommend One Big Happy Family.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the copies to review!

Hoo boy, let me tell you, One Big Happy Family is something this Bishop family certainly is NOT. But let’s back up. We are gathered together at The Precipice, a family owned hotel off the coast of Maine. The patriarch has recently passed, and the Bishop sisters are there to claim said hotel. A hurricane is on the horizon (literally), and the staff, namely 19 yo chambermaid Charley Kelley, is just trying to make it through another season and save some money.

Does all go as planned? Heck no, but I bet you could have guessed that, and if you love unlikeable characters, murder, family drama, and secrets all in a locked room setting with a storm a-brewing, then this is the perfect summer thriller for you! Our gal Charley even has a few things to keep hidden as well! I loved reading this one via audio, I binged this on a Saturday and could not stop. I loved the trouble everyone found themselves in, as well as the flashbacks to the past where we learned a little more about our characters. It was not a surprise in how it ended, but I still really enjoyed this one overall and definitely recommend it.

There was a little bit of everything that makes a good mystery/whodunnit story. There were a few times I needed to suspend my disbelief to get into the book but I’m so glad I did. Charley is down on her luck trying to keep her grandma’s nursing home paid for. As a maid in a fancy hotel she had been avoiding the advances of her handsy boss and then he passed away. This left Charley to deal with hosting the family for the reading of the will all while expecting a hurricane. Add in Bree allegedly hiding from an abusive boyfriend and Rodrigo who hates the lawyer and this makes for a really fun story.
I really enjoyed the revelations in this story and the uncovering of who was responsible for the mayhem and death. I was so happy for the ending and how things worked out for Charley.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this really fun book,

Thank you to @macmillian.audio for the gifted audiobook and Books/ NetGalley for the ebook ARC. All opinions are my own.

Narrator Saskia Maarleveld did a great job of narrating One Big Happy Family. I listened at 1.75x for the first half of the book and then sped up to 2x to hurry and finish. This is my first book by this narrator.

Bookish Thoughts: This novel resonated with me because as I started the audiobook a hurricane was making landfall in the book and simultaneously in real life Hurricane Beryl made landfall along the Texas coast. The book started off promising and then slowed down in the middle. I started to get a bit bored so I increased the speed to hurry and finish. It didn’t blow me away and left me feeling meh.

#MacAudio2024

Let's talk about that Cover!!! I chose the book because of this colorful beach scene and of course, I loved The Block Party!! The setting is a coastal scene in Maine and a legendary family hotel The Precipice. When the owner dies, his three daughters return to claim part of the dynasty. They are a hoot with their dysfunctional family dynamics. Each one of them is keeping secrets and those bleed into their lies. There is a character that I loved and she is the maid. Sweet and kind Charley makes this book as she pilfers and steals from the guests to provide for her mom who needs around the clock care for dementia. She is also hiding away a stowaway guest, Bree, her best friend running from her abusive boyfriend.
As a hurricane moves closer to shore, a storm is brewing much closer inside. The guests are tucked away and shielded from what is outside, but not everyone will make it alive as a killer is tucked away too.
The only drawback is the climb to get there, but when the bottom falls out of the climax you will love this Agatha Christie style mystery. It is very entertaining and it is a must-read to learn about Charley.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book remind me of clue. Everybody had a different agenda for this hotel in maine. C h a r l e y was the chamber M a I d. She had a very interesting life as well.Her mother died. She never met her father. Grandmother.
Was in the nursing home. Then the person Who owned the hotel died. She is Was afraid she was gonna lose her job. The sister showed up for the will This I Women shows up.She's running away from her Boyfriend. The WIL?
Very interesting because do not Go as S p l a n. P Lan. All the sisters had a very interesting background. And they're all tied into one incident chambermaidnamecatherine,whedied.
Thiswasvreyintreestinghowtheauthortrid1everythingtogather.

Last year, on a whim, I requested the author’s debut, The Block Party and read it in one sitting, it was that engaging. This book is just as engaging, if not more, even as the underlying themes are even darker.

The story is narrated mostly in first person, present tense by nineteen year old Charley, who is at once cynical for her age, and still innocent in many ways; with some sections in third person, present tense, from the point of view of the Bishop sisters. And while the events of the book happen over the course of four or five days in early September 2021, the story covers a twisted family history spanning four decades.

Because the Bishops are a big, dysfunctional, deeply unhappy family indeed.

Beware: drug addiction; alcoholism; domestic abuse; dementia; threat of rape of a minor; long term sexual harassment; copaganda; long term child abuse.

Charley has been working full time as the one live-in maid at the exclusive and expensive Precipice Hotel for over two years; she’s paid a pittance, but room and board are included, so everything she makes–payroll, tips, and whatever she can lift from what rude guests leave laying about in their rooms-goes to paying for her grandmothers’ rent at the local assisted living facility. Until his recent death, she also spent a lot of time and effort avoiding her boss’s sexual advances and suffering his retaliation in the form of unreasonable work expectations.

As she has no other family and her education stalled at a GED, Charley is worried about what will happen to her position once the Bishop sisters take over management of the hotel. The fact they are coming to stay there for the reading of the will just as hurricane Larry is taking aim at Maine is bad enough, but now that her Nana’s rent is going up (again!), Charley has taken an uncharacteristic risk, and agreed to help a woman fleeing an abusive boyfriend hide there without paying–the hotel, that is; Charley hopes for a substantial payout.

Charley’s narration is both snarky, in a way that conveys quiet desperation, and young. A hotel maid is the lowest and most invisible service person there is, and wealthy people are usually the most miserly people to serve; Charley is jaded to the ways of the privileged. At the same time, she can’t stop herself from hoping for a different life, not quite dreaming of it, not quite wishing for it, but nonetheless hoping.

“When the person you love most in the world can’t remember your name, it leaves you feeling adrift. I want so badly to be seen and heard, to feel like my story, small as it is, matters to somebody other than me.” (Chapter 9)

So while she thinks she’s ready for what happens when all members of the Bishop family and their lawyer have to spend a couple of nights in an otherwise empty hotel, she can’t imagine the level of vitriol they’ll unleash on each other, never mind guns, knives, and weirdly rhyming threatening messages.

The Bishop sisters are all very different in personality but equally screwed up; they all ran as far away from their family and each other as they could, only to end up tangled together in a messy, messy knot.

Vicky owns a successful chain of jewelry stores with her husband, a man she both despises and loves; she copes by being super controlling and a conspiracy theorist. It’s worth nothing that no political affiliations are ever mentioned, and politics are never brought up, but since Vicky calls people who check the news for weather forecasts “sheeple”, if you know, you know. Quinn, their college-age son, resents the father who resents him, and tolerates the mother who’s gone off the rails.

Iris is an excon and drug and alcohol addict who has been sober for years; the middle sister, with all the attendant insecurities and a very troubled past, she’s also currently the most stable of the three. Interestingly, while it’s made clear that Iris achieved sobriety through Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous, and has “found Jesus”, she is never preachy. Iris is the strongest and most generous of the sisters.

Meanwhile, Faith is now in a same sex marriage, but it’s clear she’s bisexual; a former model, her self worth is entirely dependent on her appearance and attractiveness, and aging does not agree with her. It doesn’t help matters that her wife Hope’s flights of fancy have encouraged their son to behave more and more bizarrely. At fourteen, Oliver speaks mostly in rhymes and drifts, often unseen, as the adults around him by turns ignore, adore, or resent him–often in the space of a few minutes.

Then there’s the lawyer, who has an unsavory history and spends a lot of time trying to leave; Bree, who claims to be homeless but also has expensive clothes and luggage; and Rodrigo, who holds a grudge, and who should have gone to visit Charley’s Nana on his way home to weather the storm, but is not answering his phone.

I was engrossed in the story even as some moments were a bit too over the top (most of them involving Vicky), and others almost rivaled horror–the things that society allows to happen to vulnerable people, especially children, are never described too graphically, and yet they’re conveyed effectively enough to make my stomach ache. The foster system, the immigration system, elder care, the so-called justice system, are all exposed for how they often encourage abuse in the name of protection.

As the sisters unravel and secrets come slowly to light, the violence of the storm outside mirrors the chaos of the human emotions inside; both leave desolation in their wake, and a lot of rebuilding work for the survivors.

I have two quibbles: first, the direct aftermath of the climactic confrontation felt a bit facile, and the scene immediately after reeks of Deus ex machina. It’s very, very satisfying, but comes entirely out of left field in a way that doesn’t fit the rest of the narrative.

The second is a very petty personal observation: no person for whom forty dollars mean the difference between making rent and eviction, especially the eviction of the person she loves most in the world, will spend money on fancy coffees, or play betting games for any amount. When you literally count the pennies you find on the street as part of your income, you don’t go wasting four or five dollars on a fancy coffee.

One Big Happy Family gets a 9.25 out of 10

If you are looking for a family that is horrible to its very core. Look no further than the Bishop family. The nastiness started with their father George. I won't get into the specifics, but crusty, old man comes to mind. He has passed on and his three daughters and their sons are coming for the reading of the will. Which is occurring right when Hurricane Larry is just hitting the Maine coast. They are sure it will pass them, miles out to sea. If not their beautiful, old, uniquely eclectic inn will stand strong. The townspeople all have strong feelings about the Bishop family. Leaving Charley nervous for their arrival. She has been living in room the size of a broom closet and working as a maid at The Precipice. She is worried that she will not have a job by the end of the weekend. If Charley only knew what she was in for!

This is a fun, locked room mystery that kept my interest. It could have been trimmed a bit here and there. But I love the atmosphere of the wind smashing against the windows, the rain drumming against the siding like a million little fingers, and the waves crashing against the rocks below. The characters are all extremely diverse. Each of their backgrounds making for an interesting turn as more of their stories come through. As the anxiety ramps up with each new death. The question who is killing everyone off and why? Thank you to Jamie Day and St. Martin's Press for my gifted copy.

Setting is a coastal town in Maine. Lovely place for this story. The hotel Precipice's owner passed away by the name of George Bishop. The daughters come to hear the reading of the will and there is a Chambermaid by the name of Charley that is in the mix here too. Who is Charley hiding in the hotel? Charley has a few secrets which makes this so interesting, and with a massive storm is the perfect touch.

This makes for such a lovely read; I enjoyed the characters, and the entire story kept me interested so in all I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a nice easy read.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

As much as it pains me to say this I struggled to connect to the story and characters, was very slow going, and I found myself skimming through the majority of it. This just wasn’t the book for me. 2 stars — Pub. 7/16/24

I received an advanced copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This book was slow and about 100 pages too long. Not very realistic and honestly quite disappointing. I did enjoy the main character but that was about it.

Not going to give anything away in this one! It starts off with Charley the maid at The Precipice hotel. She is the main maid at the hotel. The manager and Charley s best friend is Rodrigo. She has a grandmother who raised her until she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Unfortunately the place Guiding Way, where her grandmother was staying was raising there prices so now Charley was in a very dire place. She begins pilfering money from the guests. Just so she can get by.

Now they are getting the hotel ready for the Bishop sisters to arrive so they can hear the reading of the will, left by their father George. The three sisters are Vicki, Faith, and Iris. Vicki is married to Todd and Faith is with Hope. Iris is a recovering drug addict. and Todd and Vicki have a son Quinn.

As a storm is baring down on them the will is read. Families are families. In this instance this family is quite dysfunctional in so many ways that I don't have enough room to list them all. Then there is Charley herself that has secrets of her own. Hiding her little stow away in the hotel, where oh where might it be?

So, how many of this family will be checking in and how many will be checking out?

Crazy thrill ride thanks Jaime Day!

Happy Reading

When the owner of the Precipice Hotel suddenly dies, his three adult daughters, Vicki, Iris, and Faith, descend upon the property for the reading of the will. With a hurricane looming off the coast, hotel maid Charley finds herself caught up in the family's chaos, each family member with a secret. As members of the family start disappearing, Charley has to outwit each one simply to survive.

This locked-door thriller was very predictable to me. To be fair, locked-door thrillers are not my cup of tea and had I realized that this book fell into that category, I probably wouldn't have requested it. I thought the pace of the plot was slow and the ending was really flat for me. There really wasn't a big "WHAT?" moment anywhere throughout.

On the positive side, I love when none of the characters are really likable in thrillers and this one hit the nail on the head. You can't say you really are rooting for any of them, which makes the crazy actions all the more enjoyable. The setting was perfect for this plot, too: super atmospheric and isolated.

I'm not sure I'll read anything else by this author, but I'm glad I gave her a try.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC. My review is honest and voluntary.

"With this cast of characters, I have a strong suspicion that the main course on tonight's menu will be a heaping portion of chaos."

Chaos is the word for the melodramatic One Big Happy Family, about off the wall siblings, by murder mystery author Jamie Day.

Working at the Precipice Hotel seems appropriate for chambermaid Charley. At 19, she's on the precipice of losing everything. Nana's nursing home raised the rent, the owner of the hotel died and his 3 daughters are coming for the reading of the will, leaving her job and her home in jeopardy.

When overbearing, eldest daughter Vicki, still beautiful once famous model Faith, and quiet recovering ex con, ex drug addict Iris show up at the hotel, just as a hurricane is coming, shutting down the hotel on the cliffs from everyone, it's a whirlwind of long kept secrets, long time brewing resentments and a too enticing night for murder.

Poor Charley is trying to wrangle the Bishops sisters to play nice after the reveals of their father's will; while dealing with power outages, powerful winds and...a dead body. Now they are trapped in the hotel and one of them is a killer.

The fact that the abundantly talented voice actress Saskia Maarleveld performed all these very different personalities, at various stages of their lives and their mental stability upped the entertainment value of this locked room family murder mystery.

Oh, did I mention Charley is also hiding a woman in one of the rooms from the Bishops?! There are so many secrets and twists, old and new, some I figured out but others were quite a surprise. This writer created a dysFUNctional family but, "...at the end of the day, blood is blood, and that bond is sacred." Well, until there's a murder...or two.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own

Unfortunately I was not able to make it through One Big Happy Family, and stopped about a quarter of the way in. There was nothing inherently wrong with the story, but nothing that felt original or compelling to keep me reading. Charley Kelley is a maid at The Precipice- a legendary, family-owned hotel on the rocky coast of Maine. The owner, Mr. Bishop has recently passed and his three daughters are coming up for the weekend for his service and to take their claim of the hotel. The sisters aren't the only thing arriving this weekend as a Hurricane is also approaching the coast of Maine. The first quarter of the book went quickly enough but again, I just wasn't really drawn in and some things seemed a little too farfetched, so I chose to stop reading. I definitely think this is a book that thriller lovers would like!

Jamie Day does it again. She has a way with bringing family drama and secrecy to the page.

The Bishop sisters and their family reunite at The Precipice, a family-owned hotel on the coast of Maine, for the reading of their fathers will. But with a hurricane approaching, the family along with some of the hotel’s staff, find themselves stranded at the hotel while the storm blows over. Like most families, the sisters have their secrets. Secrets from each other and secrets they intend to keep amongst the three of them. But when a body is discovered, there is risk of their secrets coming to light.

One Big Happy Family is a fast paced, locked-door, mystery thriller that will keep you guessing. Some parts I was able to predict, but there were aspects I did not see coming. The story is told both present day and with flashbacks to the sister’s past. Jamie Day has turned into an auto-read author for me.

I was expecting to love this story because I really enjoyed her first story but I just couldn’t get into it. The story dragged and the twists weren’t jaw dropping. I wish I had more good things to say about this story besides I liked Bree and liked Oliver’s rhyming ability to communicate but that’s about all. Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this story even though it wasn’t a winner for me!